Pesto
Ingredients:
- 1 large bunch of basil, leaves only, washed and dried (about 4 C)
- 3 medium cloves of garlic
- one small handful of raw pine nuts
- roughly 3/4 cup Parmesan, loosely packed and FRESHLY GRATED
- A few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions:
- Start chopping the garlic along with about 1/3 of the basil leaves.
- Once this is loosely chopped add more basil, chop some more, add the rest of the basil, chop some more. I scrape and chop, gather, and chop. At this point the basil and garlic should be a very fine mince.
- Add about half the pine nuts, chop.
- Add the rest of the pine nuts, chop.
- Add half of the Parmesan, chop.
- Add the rest of the Parmesan, and chop. In the end you want a chop so fine that you can press all the ingredients into a basil “cake”
- Transfer the pesto “cake” to a small bowl (not much bigger than the cake). Cover with a bit of olive oil, it doesn’t take much, just a few tablespoons.
- You can set this aside or place it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
- Just before serving give the pesto a quick stir to incorporate some of the oil into the basil.
- You can thin the pesto with a bit of your pasta or potato water if desired for spreadability.
Makes about 1 cup.
Tip: I use Parmigiano-Regggiano cheese. It’s more expensive, but worth it if you can. I get a wedge of it from Sam’s Club. It freezes well and one wedge will make lots of pesto!
You can experiment and use other greens and nuts if you wish.